Louis William Geldricus Ernest of Bentheim and Steinfurt (1 October 1756 at Steinfurt Castle – 20 August 1817) was a member of the House of

Bentheim-Steinfurt Bentheim-Steinfurt was a historical county located in northwestern North Rhine-Westphalia in the region surrounding Steinfurt, Germany. Bentheim-Steinfurt was a partition of Bentheim-Bentheim, itself a partition of the County of Bentheim. Bentheim- ...

. He was an

Imperial Count Imperial Count (german: Reichsgraf) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. In the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from ...

and was raised to

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

in 1817. He was the second son of Count Charles Paul Ernest and his wife, Sophie Charlotte of

Nassau-Siegen Nassau-Siegen was a principality within the Holy Roman Empire that existed between 1303 and 1328, and again from 1606 to 1743. From 1626 to 1734, it was subdivided into Catholic and Protestant parts. Its capital was the city of Siegen, found ...

, the eldest daughter of

Frederick William II, Prince of Nassau-Siegen Prince Frederick William II of Nassau-Siegen (11 November 1706 – 2 March 1734), german: link=no, Friedrich Wilhelm II. Fürst von Nassau-Siegen, official titles: ''Fürst zu Nassau, Graf zu Katzenelnbogen, Vianden, Diez, Lim ...

. As his brother Charles (13 February 1753 – 5 September 1772) died before their father, Louis succeeded in 1780 as Count of Steinfurt. On 17 July 1776, he married Princess Juliane Wilhelmine of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg (30 April 1754 – 14 September 1823), with whom he had the following eight children: * Henriette Sophie (10 June 1777 – 8 December 1851), married in 1802 to Karl, 2nd Prince of

Solms-Hohensolms-Lich Solms-Hohensolms-Lich was at first a County and later Principality with Imperial immediacy in what is today the federal Land of Hessen, Germany. It was ruled by a branch of the House of Solms, originally from Solms. Grafschaft The county was or ...

(1762–1807) * Christian (1778–1789) *

Alexius Alexius is the Latinized form of the given name Alexios ( el, Αλέξιος, polytonic , "defender", cf. Alexander), especially common in the later Byzantine Empire. The female form is Alexia ( el, Αλεξία) and its variants such as Alessia ...

(20 October 1781 – 3 November 1866), Louis's successor as Prince of Bentheim und Steinfurt * William (17 April 1782 – 12 October 1839) * Louis (22 November 1787 – 4 February 1876) * Charlotte (5 May 1789 – 6 January 1874) * Eugene (28 March 1791 – 4 December 1871) * Sophie (16 January 1794 – 6 May 1873), married on 10 September 1823 to Landgrave Charles of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld (27 June 1784 – 17 July 1854)

External links

Entry at his-data.de
House of Bentheim Counts of Bentheim Counts of Steinfurt 1756 births 1817 deaths 18th-century German people People from Steinfurt {{Germany-noble-stub